June3 16

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AIKEN-AUGUSTA’S MOST SALUBRIOUS NEWSPAPER • FOUNDED IN 2006

Lifesaving tragedy Editor’s note: after our cover story about water safety and Robert Ballard’s drowning at Lake Springs in our last issue, we heard from Robert’s mother, Lakeya Collins. She hopes to transform her pain and agony into something positive that will prevent future tragedies for others. Here is her story. by Lakeya Collins It was a beautiful Sunday morning, April 24, 2016. Usually my children and I would all be getting ready for Sunday morning church services. This particular Sunday, my 16-year-old son Robert asked if he could dismiss himself from church and spend time with his friends. Against my better judgment I said yes because the day before he spent all day at home babysitting his 6-yearold brother because I had to work a 12 hour shift. That afternoon after church my fiancé and I decided to take a nap. After dreaming that I had missed 30 calls, I woke up to 28 missed calls. One particular text message from my daughter Alyse stood out, “Mommy please call me the sheriff is looking for you.” When I returned Alyse’s call I wasn’t be prepared for what she would tell me. There was a scream in her voice that I will never forget for the rest of my days. She would tell me that Robert drowned that afternoon. At that moment my world would shift into something I never knew even existed.

Robert Ballard and his mother, Lakeya Collins, in 2014 After the initial shock of losing my son in such a tragic manner, I wanted details and facts about what happened. I immediately went to his girlfriend who attempted to save his life, but was unfortunately unable to do so. She told me that she and Robert along with friends decided to swim to another island. They swam together, but midway out Robert complaint of being tired and wanted to turn around. At that point Robert went under and never resurfaced. Robert could swim and was in excellent physical shape. I’m not sure why he tired out so fast. Maybe he panicked. Since that terrible day I

have discovered that there aren’t any lake swimming safety laws in the state of Georgia. There are boating rules and regulations, but not for lake swimming safety. I found that to be disturbing since there are more than two dozen major lakes in the state of Georgia and Georgia ranks #14 in the country for drowning, averaging well over 100 drownings per year, and about 40 percent of them are in lakes. Researching I found plenty of safety tips for lake swimming and classes to promote safety, but nothing holding anyone accountable or liable for precious lives especially our children. More Please see ROBERT page 6

TLC

JUNE 3, 2016

BODY PARTS: THE SERIES

Double Helix Editor’s note: with this issue the Medical Examiner begins an occasional series highlighting the amazing design and structure of the human body.

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f all the zillions of components that make up the human body, DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) ranks with the most astounding. DNA is the genetic blueprint we carry in each of our trillions of cells. What does that mean? Imagine looking at the blueprints for a huge skyscraper. The plans would be voluminous, even though the most complex building is like a child’s toy compared to the human body. If you visited the building, you could chip off a tiny piece of drywall in any room on any floor, or pick up a flake of rust from an exposed pipe and if you magnified the piece enough, the blueprints for the entire building would be contained in that tiny fragment. More than that, the complete plans would also include elements from every building previously designed and constructed by the same architectural and construction team, going back decades. Of course, the human body is far more complex than any building on earth. No two people are alike. Each living being changes literally minute by minute, sometimes from second to second. For example, brain cells in a developing baby are formed at the rate of up to 250,000 per minute. Even so, each of those 250,000 cells contains a perfectly replicated copy of DNA that is unique to that tiny embryonic human and no other. DNA replication is amazingly accurate in that it involves taking apart the two halves of the double helix, then zipping it back together, one half being the original parent strand, the other half a new but perfectly matched copy. Please see DNA page 2

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June3 16 by Daniel Pearson - Issuu